Prometheus’ released on DVD

Thursday

Oct 11, 2012 at 6:00 AM

By Rob Lowman LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS

The 1979 “Alien” was a classic, a horror film set in space. In “Prometheus,” director Ridley Scott returns to the same realm, only less interested in primal screams and more interested in origins and mythological beginnings, as referenced by the title.

Again, there is a spaceship, this one called Prometheus, and it is headed for another suspicious planet. It’s captained by a rough-hewed veteran (Idris Elba), who smokes cigarillos and owns an old squeezebox. His boss is an icy company woman played by Charlize Theron, following her turn as the icy queen in “Snow White & the Huntsman.”

There is, of course, an android on board, as expected in the franchise. The droid, whose name is David, is trying to make himself as human as possible. He is played by Michael Fassbender, who has said he was channeling Peter O’Toole in “Lawrence of Arabia” for the role, and he does have a similar alien quality.

The original “Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” — Noomi Rapace — is researcher Elizabeth Shaw, who wears a cross and sees the mission as a spiritual quest. She and her husband, Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green), have discovered a star map in Scotland that matches others from several unconnected ancient cultures. They interpret this as an invitation from humanity’s forerunners, the “Engineers.”

For those who want to see the film, it’s best not to reveal much more. There are many reasons to see “Prometheus” because Scott always has something interesting to offer visually. It just won’t provide the jolts of “Alien.”

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“The Raven,” directed by James McTeigue (“V for Vendetta”; “Ninja Assassin”), is a fantastical imagining of the final days of America’s original Goth, the writer Edgar Allan Poe, often credited with inventing the detective genre.

In the movie he is played with wild-eyed fury by John Cusack. Poe has been drawn into an unwanted mystery. He prefers to drink and hang with his girlfriend (Alice Eve), but is compelled to aid the police in pursuing a serial killer who has also wounded Poe’s literary pride.

Most of “The Raven” makes little sense, and like “V for Vendetta” is a better idea than movie.

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Journey’s ubiquitous anthem “Don’t Stop Believin’ ” is the cornerstone of the Broadway jukebox musical “Rock of Ages,” which was turned into a ho-hum film directed by Adam Shankman (“Hairspray”).

The plot is practically the song — Julianne Hough is the small-town girl and Diego Boneta the city boy — the trouble is, instead of being a few minutes long the film runs a couple of hours.

Nobody’s bad and I liked Hough and Boneta well enough, but I’m not a fan of the music, and some scenes just ... go ... on ... too ... long.

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Who doesn’t like “E.T.”? For its 30th anniversary, Steven Spielberg’s “” makes its Blu-ray debut, and it looks better than ever. In the extras department, there are a couple of new featurettes including a new interview with the director.